The present invention relates generally to thermoplastic films and, more particularly, to thermoplastic films having properties making them especially well suited for use as stretch/cling wraps in various bundling, packaging and palletizing operations.
Stretch/cling films have found utility in a wide variety of fields including the bundling and packaging of food and other goods. One application of particular, but not limiting, interest to the present invention is in the bundling of goods for shipping and storage such as, for example, the bundling of large rolls of carpet, fabric or the like for shipping from the manufacturer to a retain outlet. An important subset of these bundling applications is in the containment and unitizing of pallet loads
The load of a pallet may be unitized or "bundled" by stretch-wrapping a film several times around the articles to be bundled on the pallet. There exist a variety of stretch-wrapping techniques, two of which are commonly employed. In one technique, the loaded pallet is placed on a rotating turntable and the end of a continuous roll of film is attached to the load. As the turntable rotates, the film is continuously wrapped around the pallet and the load. Tension is applied to the film roll to cause the film to stretch as it is applied.
In another technique, the converse occurs, i.e., the pallet and load are kept stationary and the continuous roll of film is rotated around the pallet and the load. Again tension is applied to the film roll to cause the film to stretch as it is applied.
Because the film is in a stretched condition, it is placed under considerable tension and will have a tendency to return to its original, unstretched state. This tension can cause the film to unravel from the wrapped pallet, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of the unitized load. It is desirable, therefore, that the film have cling properties to prevent unraveling of the film from the pallet.
To impart cling properties to, or improve the cling properties of, a particular film, a number of well-known tackifying additives have been utilized. Common tackifying additives include polybutenes, terpene resins, alkali metal stearates and hydrogenated rosins and rosin esters. The cling properties of a film can also be modified by the well-known physical process referred to as corona discharge.
The use of tackifying additives, however, is not desirable. These additives have a tendency to accumulate on the stretch wrapping apparatus. This often creates a need for additional periodic cleaning and maintenance. The tackifiers also can migrate into the bundled or unitized articles resulting in damage to such articles, as well as migrating throughout the film, even a multilayer film, causing tackiness on both sides. In palletizing operations, this may cause the film on adjacent pallets to cling together resulting in tear, puncture or other damage to the wrap and jeopardizing the integrity of the unitized load.
For this reason, it is desirable for the film to have cling characteristics without the use of a tackifier. It is also desirable to have slip properties on its "outer" side to prevent this interpallet cling. Slip is defined in terms of coefficient of friction. In other words, it is desirable that the "outer" side of the film have a low coefficient of friction in contact with another object, particularly another like film. As with cling, slip can be imparted to the film or improved through the use of various well-known slip and/or antiblock additives including silicas, silicates, diatomaceous earths, talcs and various lubricants. Under highly stretched conditions, however, the coefficient of friction in the films tends to increase and even the slip additives may not provide the desired slip properties.
The tension in the stretched film may also cause the film to be more susceptible to punctures and tears. It is, therefore, also desirable for the film, as a whole, to have good stretch, tensile, puncture resistance and tear resistance properties.
Additionally, thermal stability of the various film components is important for the recycling of edge trim and film scrap generated in the various film production processes.
A wide variety of thermoplastic polymers such as, for example, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene and various polymers of ethylene and other comonomers, most notably vinyl acetate, have been used as stretch/cling films. These materials standing alone, however, suffer from a number of shortcomings. Most do not possess desirable cling properties without the use of tackifying additives. Further, most cannot be stretched to a great extent without adversely affecting their slip, tensile, tear resistance and puncture resistance properties For the particular case of ethylene-vinyl acetate polymers, thermal stability becomes a problem on the reprocessing of trim and scrap. The lack of thermal stability in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers also severly limits the use of EVA in stretch film. The lack of thermal stability causes the EVA films to gel and subsquently fail when stretched.
More recently, the use of multilayer films has gained popularity. With a multilayer film, one can obtain a stretch/cling wrap having cling properties on one side and slip properties on the other side. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,654 discloses a multilayer film having an A/B construction wherein the A layer has cling characteristics and the B layer has slip characteristics. In the aforementioned patent, the A layer is said to comprise a polyethylene or an ethylene-monoolefin polymer, preferably linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). To provide the LLDPE with the desired cling properties, a tackifying agent is added to the polymer. The B layer is said to comprise a low density polyethylene (LDPE) with an anticling additive added to impart the desired slip properties to the LDPE. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes as if fully set forth.
Other multilayer films comprising layers of the various aforementioned stretch/cling materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,508,944, 3,748,962, 3,817,821, 4,022,646, 4,082,877, 4,147,827, 4,189,420, 4,194,039, 4,303,710, 4,399,180, 4,364,981, 4,418,114, 4,425,268, 4,436,788, 4,504,434, 4,588,650 and 4,671,987; U.K. Patent Appln. No. 2,123,747; French Patent No. 2,031,801; and European Patent Appln. No. 0198,091, all of which are also incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. These multilayer films are generally produced by one of a number of well-known coextrusion processes also disclosed in the aforementioned incorporated references.
Many of the multilayer films, however, still suffer from shortcomings possessed by their individual layers. For instance, most still require the use of tackifying additives to impart cling properties to the film. As previously mentioned, these tackifying additives have a tendency to accumulate on dispensing apparatus and may migrate through the films to the slip side. Also, films containing a tackifying additive may be prepared and used in such a manner that the tackifying additive is "picked off" and onto the slip side of the film because the slip and cling layers of the film are in intimate contact on the film roll. Others do not possess desired slip properties, particularly when in a highly stretched state. Still others do not possess a desirable combination of stretch, tensile, tear resistance, puncture resistance and thermal stability properties.